RNAi visits Stockholm

Quick shout-out to Fire and Mello, the nobel prize winners (in medicine), for their discovery of RNAi.

RNAi stands for RNA interference, a process in which cells regulate expression at the post transcriptional level by using compementary oligonucleotides to degradate mRNA.

It's both less and more complicated than it sounds, but the upshot is the discovery enables "gene silencing", the ability to tune down the expression of a protein within cells. Proteins are the main functional units that make up cells, some being able to turn them down at will is very powerful tool. Medically, it enables a wide variety of new treatments for targets as diverse as AIDS, Cancer, or genetic diseases. Other benefits include the ability to design tissue specific expression and the silencing of genes for fundamental studies.

The field is less than a decade old and has vast potential to not only open up other areas of discovery, but also to save and improve lives. To have gotten as far as it has this quickly is a major testimonial to the power of the field, but it also speaks well of the scientists who developed, shared, and promoted the technology. A worthy award.